You Save Me
by TBels24
Summary: Bella, an out of control teenager, gets sent to live with her father in Forks, Washington. Troubled by the events that led up to her departure from Arizona, Bella falls into a deep depression. Can her new classmate Edward help her find herself again?


**_AN: _**I am clearly _not_ the amazingly talented Stephanie Meyer. She owns all things Twilight. **

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**You Save Me**

Chapter 1

I slumped down in the chair across from Officer Martinez and kicked my feet up on the corner of his cluttered desk. He glared at me with his dark brown eyes. I could tell he wasn't amused by my attitude but what did I care? As he raised the phone receiver to his ear he said sternly, "Feet on the floor Miss Swan." I hated how he was always so formal and polite regardless of how rude I was to him. No matter how hard I tried, I could never seem to get a rise out of him. I plopped my feet onto the cold tile floor of his office and slouched down even lower in my plastic chair.

"Stupid pig." I mumbled under my breath as I watched Officer Martinez dial my mom's number without hesitation. I was only 16 and already had quite the reputation in Black Canyon City. In fact, the local police were so accustomed to calling my mom that they rarely had to ask me for the number anymore. Had I really been in so much trouble that they knew my mom's number by heart? Whatever, I really didn't care. What would Renee do to me anyway? Renee was always trying so hard to be my friend that she really couldn't pull off being an authority figure. I thought about what I'd have to face when she found out I'd stolen this time. Chances are she'd be mad at me today, but by the weekend, when the dirty laundry piled up in the hamper and she was tired of having cold cereal for dinner, my "punishment" would be forgotten and I'd once again have free reign over my life.

"Good evening Ms. Dwyer," Officer Martinez said pleasantly into the phone, "No, no nothing like that. Calm down, Bella is fine. Well, that is to say she's sitting here with me unharmed but I have to tell you Ms. Dwyer...okay, Renee...yes, of course I'll let you speak with Bella in just a minute. If you'd please, just give me a moment to explain what happened." I rolled my eyes. Good luck getting through to her, I thought to myself. I had told Officer Martinez that Renee was too preoccupied with her own mess of a life to worry about mine but he still insisted on the formalities.

"You know, I hate telling parents how to handle their children" he continued, "but you have to understand that if something isn't done soon to stop Bella's rebellious behavior more serious measures are going to have to be taken. She's nearly an adult and we've already been dealing with her for years. I certainly can't sit here and pretend things aren't getting worse. We were lucky we drove by and caught her walking out of Gordon's shop just as the call came in. We made sure Bella returned and paid for all the items she took but unfortunately she's no longer welcome to set one foot inside that store. Renee, we're talking about theft now. Even you have to be able to see that things are getting out of hand. I've done about all I can for Bella. The next time we catch her doing something like this the courts will have to be involved."

Officer Martinez leaned back in his chair and massaged his temples with his free hand. After a minute of listening to my mom he spoke. "Of course, here she is." He reached the receiver across the desk and wagged it at me. "You better straighten up and listen to your mother this time young lady. You've run out of second chances as far as the law is concerned."

I grabbed the phone from his outstretched hand and put it hesitantly to my ear. Renee had already started spewing off her usual speech. Blah blah blah, be responsible, blah blah blah, stop acting like a hooligan, blah blah blah, send you to your dad....._WHAT_? Wait a minute. Did she say she was considering sending me to stay with my dad?

"Mom, hey chillax!" I interrupted. "It wasn't even on purpose. I walked out of the store and totally forgot that I had that shit in my bag. Gordon knows I wouldn't do anything like that on purpose, things will be fine." I tried to reassure her. I knew there was no chance she would send me to stay with my dad Charlie. Sure, he was a cop but no way did he know how to take care of me. I spent a few weeks a year up there with him in Washington and it was always a total joke. If he wasn't working or watching ESPN then he was out fishing. He knew nothing about raising a teenager and we literally hadn't had a real conversation in pretty much my entire life. Every time I went to visit Charlie I spent most of my time down at the Quillute reservation with my bestfriend Leah. Hmm, maybe living with Charlie wouldn't be so bad, I thought to myself. Leah and I could really get into some trouble together! I chuckled a little at that thought and turned my attention back to my mom who was still babbling about how disappointed she was with me.

"Well honey, I guess I'll ask Phil if I can borrow his car to come and get you again. I'll see you in about a half hour. Do me a favor, stay out of trouble till then." she said exasperated. With that, the phone clicked and I handed it back to Officer Martinez. So my mom was at Phil's again? Shocking. It seemed like any time he wasn't out on the road with his stupid minor league baseball team she was over there.

"She's on her way." I told the Officer and got up to leave his dingy little office and wait for my mom.

The lobby of the station was dimly lit with buzzing florescent lights and was painted sandy brown with teal accents. I walked over to a row of chairs under an open window and sat down taking my phone out of my pocket. I flipped it open and started to text Leah.

"Hey gurl. Just sitting at the f'n cop shop again waiting for Renee whatcha up to?" I was beginning to feel a little nauseous so I leaned my head back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. My phone buzzed in my hands.

"You're crazy!" Leah had texted back, "What did you do now? Rob a bank? I'm just sitting here listening to my brother and Jake b.s. about cliff diving. Lol right, like they'd have the balls."

"Lol. No bank robbery today. My ski mask is still on back order, maybe next week. Say hi to Jake for me ;-) Maybe I'll see you soon. I think Renee's had enough of me for a while." I hit send and closed my eyes to visualize Jake. I hadn't seen him in nearly a year but I was always creeping around his Facebook page. He was always posting pictures of himself out in his garage where it seemed he spent most of his time fixing up junky cars. Jake was a Quillute Indian with delicious brown skin and long dark hair. His dad was one of Charlie's best friends so I saw him a lot on my visits. I was still thinking about Jake and how I'd love to see him when my phone buzzed again.

"Jake says hi and that you should come help him celebrate his 16th birthday next month. Miss you! Call me when you can." Wow, so Jake was almost 16. I flipped my phone shut after reading Leah's message and looked around. There was only one other person in the room, an older lady with an awful perm. She was standing at a tall filing cabinet thumbing through the folders. I watched her pull one out of the cabinet and plop it down on the desk in front of her. She looked over her glasses and her eyes pierced me. She shook her head, sighed and sat down.

Before I could give the judgemental bitch a piece of my mind, the door to my right swung open and my frazzled mother walked through. She was wearing her favorite jeans and a red button-up shirt that was half un-tucked and her usually perfect blond hair looked touseled. If I didn't know better I'd say Officer Martinez interrupted some naughty time with his phone call. I shook that awful thought from my head and stood up to face my mom.

Her arms reached out and pulled me to her in a tight hug. As quickly as she had pulled me to her she then pushed me away to arms length. Her hands were clamped to the sides of my arms hanging limply by my side. She looked at me searching for a visible sign of what was causing my misbehavior.

"Well, you look okay." She said skeptically.

"Mom, I'm fine. Nothing happened to me, remember?" I said rolling my eyes. "Lets just get out of here. This place makes me feel sick."

"I'd like to talk to Officer Martinez quick. Go wait for me in the car." she waved me off and walked across the lobby towards the lady with the files hoping to be escorted into policeman's office. I left the building and the dusty, hot Arizona air hit me in the face. It was early evening and the sun was setting in a beautiful haze of purple and orange. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. I loved the heat and the dry, sandy breeze that brushed my bare skin year round. Could I really ever move to a place like rainy, dreary Forks, Washington?

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I didn't say a word to Renee the whole ride home. She tried to get me to open up to her about why I couldn't seem to stay out of trouble lately but I was too smart to respond. I knew exactly how to handle this type of situation. If I kept my mouth shut for long enough she would ease off me just to get me to talk to her again. Renee couldn't stand me being mad at her and I knew the thing she feared most of all was losing me forever. I knew I was safe. She could never send me to live with Charlie. Her life would be pathetic and lonely without me. I held all the cards and now I just had to play the game right. As soon as the car pulled into the driveway I unbuckled my seatbelt and readied my hand on the car door. We were merely rolling to a stop when I flung the door open and bolted up to the front door. I pulled my house key out of my pocket and prepared to unlock the door. I needed to get into my room and lock myself in as soon as possible. That would always push Renee over the edge. I could sit up there and avoid her all night. I was just about to stick my key in the lock when the door swung open unexpectedly.

"Fuck! You scared me Phil!" I spat. He was standing right in the doorway and didn't look ready to let me past him quite as fast as I'd hoped. I looked up at Phil's angry face and decided that he wasn't going to ruin my plans to hide out in my room and avoid punishment. I attempted to push Phil aside so that I could take off up the stairs behind him but he wouldn't budge. Instead he grabbed me by the arm and started to lead me into the kitchen.

"Get your hands off me asshole!" I yelled as I tried to shrug him off. Phil didn't let go and forced me down onto a kitchen chair.

"You're going to sit here and listen to what your mother and I have to say to you whether you like it or not." He said looking down at me.

"Um, you really don't get to tell me what to do Phil." I replied angrily and stood up out of my chair. Phil pushed me back down and stuck his finger in my face.

"Listen up, smartass." He said."You're mother has had it up to here with you and your attitude. Things are going to change around here starting now. You're in for a rude awakening missy."

I laughed. Missy? Who the hell did this guy think he was anyway standing in _my_ kitchen and telling me what to do. My mom walked through the door and sat down in the chair across from me. She rested her head in her hands exhaustedly and sighed. Things were silent for a minute before I noticed that her shoulders started to shudder and tears were falling from her face down onto the table.

"Seriously mom? Crying? Nice touch." I scoffed.

"Show some respect for your mother Bella." Phil said and walked over to my mom and squatted down beside her. He wrapped his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. "You're doing the right thing honey." I looked at him confused.

"She's not doing anything Phil. Stop putting crazy shit in her head. See me and my mom, we're a family. You're just a lame ass minor leaguer. So why don't you drive on back home and leave me and my mom to figure this problem out by ourselves." I smirked at him and stood to head up to my room. As I turned around I was shocked to see cardboard boxes stacked up against the wall beside the stairs. How did I miss those on the way in? I turned back around to face Phil and my mom again. They could see the confusion on my face.

"Sweetie, I meant to tell you," my mom started. "Its just, you've hardly been home the last few days and when you are home you're always avoiding me..."

"Spit it out mom." I snarled through my teeth. My mom got up and walked towards me.

"Honey," she hesitated. "Phil's going to be moving in with us. I just can't seem to handle everything on my own anymore. You...I mean...things with you are just too much. I need...a partner." I laughed at her.

"A partner mom? You had one, remember? Dad? He still loves you and would do anything for you but he was never good enough for you was he?" I scoffed at her. She hated to hear about Charlie. I knew she still questioned whether it was the right decision to leave him when I was so young. "Hey Phil," I continued, "why don't you save us all the trouble and throw those boxes back in your car. It's only a matter of time anyway."

"Thats enough young lady!" My mom spoke up. I had never heard her raise her voice this way. "As long as you're in my house you will show Phil and I respect." I looked down at her hand tightly squeezing Phil's for support.

"Well then maybe I won't stay in your house." I mumbled.

This time they let me head to my room without another word. I stomped up the stairs and slammed the door behind me. Who did Phil think he was? Standing in my house telling me what to do. I was seething at the thought of the cardboard boxes stacked up downstairs. I hardly knew Phil and now I was supposed to share my house with him? I flung myself down on my bed which was still unmade from the morning and smothered my face into my pillow. I couldn't decide if I wanted to scream or start crying.

I laid quietly in my room for a while thinking about how my life had escalated to this horrible point. I hadn't always been a trouble maker. In fact, before high school I was an excellent student with lots of friends. It was when I started high school that everything changed. I had always been the awkward and clumsy one in the group and my old friends quickly and unexpectadly deserted me in favor of the beautiful cheerleaders and popular volleyball players. They didn't want to associate with me and chance stunting their growing popularity. I was left with very few options for companionship. There were however a few guys in my freshman English class who made it clear that they thought I was cute and I clung to the attention they threw at me like it was a life vest keeping me afloat in a raging sea.

Before long I found out these new friends of mine had special connections and could get me any type of drug or alcohol I wanted. I never really liked drinking or smoking but I did it with them on occasion to keep them happy. After all, if I didn't have them I would have been all alone. By the end of the first semester it wasn't uncommon for me to ditch class and go out to the parking lot to smoke a joint with one of my new friends. Amazingly, I never got busted by any teachers. I had been happily flying under the radar of the authorities until the one day horrible day that changed my life. My friend Matt had offered me a ride home from school that day and I accepted gladly. Anytime I got out of riding the bus home was a blessing. But Matt didn't drive me home. Instead he detoured to a rundown site along the highway where the Native Americans used to sell their turquoise trinkets to passing tourists. He parked behind an abandoned tin stall and pulled a joint out of a pack of cigarettes that had been jammed above his visor. He lit it, took a puff and passed it to me. I took a short drag and held the stinging smoke in my lungs as long as I could before exhaling. We continued this exchange until the joint was gone. After that, I figured we would just head home but Matt seemed to have other plans. His hands started rubbing up and down my thigh, cupping between them and giving my inner thigh a squeeze.

"Whoa dude, keep your hands to yourself." I said pushing his hands away. I tried to keep my tone light trying not to offend him or let him see how cornered I was feeling.

"Don't be a tease Bella." He muttered leaning across the car and pressing his slobbering lips to my neck. His hand once again found its way between my legs, higher up this time rubbing me violently. I pushed him away with all the force I had.

"Seriously, knock it off." I said, my voice shaking noticeably. The weed was starting to take effect and my limbs were feeling numb and weak. I fumbled my way out of the car and started walking although I wasn't sure where I would go. Matt followed me and I looked back at his wild eyes unsure what he was really capable of. I started to walk faster down the dusty desert road when his hand reached out and grabbed mine. He tugged me back toward him and I tripped over my own feet as I spun around. I collided with Matt's too close body and my knees buckled beneath me. Laying in the red sand, Matt climbed on top of me and ran his hands roughly up and down my body. His lips sloppily landing wherever they could reach my face and neck as I fought against him. What happened next was something I had spent the last two years trying to forget. I never told anyone what Matt had done to me and from that day on I knew it was safer for me to disconnect from reality. I became a shell of my former self and trouble began to follow me around like a shadow.


End file.
